


Talking to the Moon

by alicantetimelord



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Homophobia, Living Together, M/M, Rating May Change, awkward teenagers, there is fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-26 18:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3859783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicantetimelord/pseuds/alicantetimelord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something is off about Tobio today and Shouyou is going to get to the bottom of it. Whatever Shouyou thought it was going to be, he never in his deepest dreams imagined it would be this...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had just posted this in my general Fic that I use for everything I write, but then me and my friend got to much written to not justify a whole separate fic. So yeah. Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions please let me know! Oh, and I am writing this with a friend of mine, but they don't have Ao3 (OR ANYTHING. Seriously girl, get with it.) So I'll just say thank you here, Thank you Ishna!!! And if you like this, you better thank her too, she's the one that makes sure anything gets done.

_Thud_. The ball hit the ground with a terrible, dull noise. For the 20th time this practice.

“Goddamnit!” Tobio murmured to himself as he punched the pole on the volleyball net, the sound echoing through the now-silent court.

Everything about Tobio today was shut away, blocking out everyone, from the way his jaw was clenched to the stiff way he had murmured his greetings, it was clear Tobio was keeping something inside. Not to mention the horrible practice he was having. He was missing every ball, and things kept getting worse and worse; not even Tsukishima would tease him about this.

Something was wrong. Horribly and Terribly Wrong.

Shouyou only wished he knew what.

Of all the times he had practiced with Tobio, played video games with him, ate lunch with him, spent time with him at all, this is a side of Tobio Shouyou has never seen before. And it scared him.

“Don’t mind. Don’t mind…” Daichi trails off in his sentence with a concerned look on his face.

Sugawara crosses over to where Tobio was still staring at the ground.

“Kageyama-” Sugawara placed a comforting hand on Tobio’s shoulder, but when he did so Kageyama snapped up and backed away from Sugawara’s hand. Suga lowered his hand and the uneasiness of the whole team as they watched this interaction increased.

"Kageyama," Sugawara began again, careful this time to hold his hands firmly by his side. "You know, if you aren't feeling well, you can go home."

No.

Shouyou could see it. The way Tobio tensed up when Suga mentioned "home."

Shouyou isn’t by far the smartest cookie in the jar, but when is comes to Tobio, he is an expert. And if he knows anything right now, it's that Tobio will not be going back to his parents' house tonight. Shouyou will make sure of it.

"... Yeah, maybe that's best." Tobio mumbles.

Tobio makes to leave the gym but Shouyou knows Tobio can't go home.

"Wait!" He shouts.

Shouyou's exclamation gets the most violent reaction: Tobio dropped his bag, he flinched so hard. Now that, Shouyou did not expect.

Shouyou is very hesitant to continue after that and he bites his lip, but he has to continue now that the whole team is looking at him. The whole team that is, except for Tobio.

"I thought you were coming to my house tonight."

Tobio visibly grinds his teeth.

"Not today. Hinata."

Hinata.

So we're back to 'Hinata' Shouyou thought miserably.

"Let him go," Sugawara cautioned. "He needs to go home."

'NO HE DOESN'T!' Shouyou wants to scream. He doesn't know why he feels so strongly about this, but he does.

"Hinata," Tobio's voice cuts like a knife. "Its fine. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Shouyou's mouth gapes open and closes as he struggles to find the words to say. But it isn't any use. Tobio is already gone.

"Come on guys. Let's get back to practice," Daichi says is a subdued tone.

Shouyou turns back to the court with a last worried glance at the door which Tobio disappeared through.

\---

"Bye see ya tomorrow!" Shouyou calls back to the rest of the team as he hops on his bike.

He made up his mind in practice: he was going to the Kageyamas' house and was going to figure out what was wrong with Tobio or so help him god... Well Shouyou didn't know what he would do, but something drastic.

Pedalling as fast as he can, Shouyou raced down the street, reaching the fork in the road where he and Tobio would part ways when they would walk or bike home together in record time.  
He was going to fix whatever was wrong with Tobio.

Screech. Shouyou's bike left skid marks on the pavement. It looked like he wouldn't have to go all the way to the Kageyamas'.   
Tobio was sitting on the ground with his legs pulled to his chest and his head buried against his legs. His bike was thrown recklessly on the ground closer to the road.  
Shouyou jumped off his bike and ran over to Tobio faster than a felon on the run.

Damn. This is not going to be good. Shouyou prophesied. Despite the bad feeling growing in Shouyou's stomach, he still scurried over to where Tobio was.  
Stopping short about two meters away, Shouyou began to cautiously approach, sensing the mood. Running forward and shaking Tobio back and forth like he would usually do would probably result in less than positive results.

“Hey, Kageyama,” Shouyou started hesitantly, hands held out in front of him in what he hoped was a calming gesture. “I’m going to sit next to you, is that okay?”

Clueless. That’s the word to describe Shouyou right now; he does not want to do anything to make Tobio even more upset. Informality and comfortability speaking freely with each other vanished when Kageyama called Shouyou by his last name, so Shouyou would continue the trend; Kageyama flinched violently at close contact, so Shouyou would ask permission. There was nothing Shouyou could do about Tobio’s seeming hesitancy around Shouyou, so the baka would just have to deal until everything was resolved.

Tobio looked up at Shouyou, and Shouyou’s heart broke. He sank to his knees, careful to keep distance between them still, even though all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around Tobio and hold him close and protect him from all the bad things that made his eyes look like that.

“Hey... Hinata.” Tobio’s voice cracked on Shouyou’s name.

SHouyou’s eyebrows drew together, furrowing in further frustration. “What’s wrong Kageyama? Are you mad because I took your meat bun yesterday? ‘Cause I’ll buy you another one! I’ll buy you five whole meat buns!”

Tobio shook his head.

"It's not the meat buns, dumbass," Tobio murrmered.  
Shouyou was relieved. Tobio wasn't so upset to stop calling him 'dumbass.' If that had happened, Shouyou would know that there was no help for Tobio.   
"Then what is it?" Shouyou demanded. "Huh huh huh? Ka-ge-ya-ma!!!"  
Everything was trial and error right now. Shouyou would try anything and everything to fix Tobio's problems.  
Tobio actually smiled a bit. Not very big, but it looked genuine at least. Shouyou mentally high-fived himself for making progress. He inched a little closer.  
"So baka, you gonna tell me?"  
Annnd the smile disappeared.   
"I don't want to talk about it." Tobio whispered so quietly that Shouyou could barely hear anything at all.  
Shouyou bit his lip, unsure of what to do. He had never been in this position before, and he just wanted to make Tobio alright.  
Shouyou got as close as he could to Tobio without touching him.  
"You really want to know what happened?" Tobio asked, looking Shouyou directly in the eye. Tobio's face was angry and strong like usual, but his eyes were still broken.  
Shouyou nodded aggressively.   
Tobio stared at Shouyou, his face giving away nothing, but you know they say the eyes are windows to the soul. Tobio's lip starts to quiver and his eyes water up. Tobio's tries to stammer out words, but they keep getting stuck in his throat. Shouyou can't take it anymore; he goes in for a hug. He has to comfort Tobio, hug him, love him... In the best way Shouyou knows how: physical affection.   
But Tobio throws his arms out in front of him, pushing Shouyou to the ground, and he backs up farther away.  
Or not, Shouyou thought flustered and at a loss for what had happened.

Tears spill out of Tobio;s eyes down his cheeks in rivers; he starts shaking back and forth, wrapping his arms around his legs again. Shouyou had never seen Tobio this far gone, and to be honest, it scares him.

“N-n-no... H-h-hi-hinata, n-no. I-I-I c-ca-c-can-can’t... It-I...” Tobio trips and falls and stumbles all around his words. Shouyou could see -- and hear -- Tobio start to hyperventilate, his chest rising and falling in a quick but uneven rhythm with Tobio’s now ragged breaths. Shouyou recognizes how fast his heart is beating and how his own eyes have started twitching and he knows he has to keep himself calm if he is going to help Tobio.

_Deep Breath._

_Count to ten, Shouyou._

_Deep Breath._

“Hush, hush, Kageyama... It’s going to be okay. Whatever it is... it’s going to be okay... I promise...” Shouyou soothed the best he could with his own voice unsteady.

“Y-you wouldn’t be saying that if you knew.” Tobio hiccupped through his words, refusing to meet Shouyou’s eyes.

“Knew what?” Shouyou groaned, frustrated and confused and all around upset at this point.

Tobio shuddered, frenzied with an emotion Shouyou couldn’t understand, which only disconcerted him even more.

“Hinata, c-can you please just l-leave me alone?” The words were like a knife through Shouyou’s heart. Tobio… didn’t want Shouyou there. He didn’t need him. No, what truly angered Shoyou was that Tobio thought he needed to go through this alone.

“Baka, come on. I promise I’ll listen and not say anything till the end.” Shouyou sat criss-cross applesauce changing tactics. He wore a childish grin on his face, but he was sure it looked forced. “C’mon, baka! I dare you!”

At this point, it was hard for Shouyou to keep the wavering sound out of his voice; he didn’t know how much more of this he could take. Shouyou hated to see Tobio like this, and it was physically painful to even look at him anymore with those broken eyes of his. No. Even for Shouyou, it was getting to be too much. He couldn’t even imagine what Tobio must have been feeling, and that broke his heart even more.

“I-I-I...” Tobio whispered, never quite getting words out of his mouth. Tobio gulped down air and looked around with his eyes red and swollen from crying. It seemed he was looking for a way out of this situation, and Shouyou really didn’t have to try hard to sympathize. He wanted nothing more than to curl up with Tobio right there and just stay like that, forever, but this needed to happen, Shouyou could feel it.

“Tobio. Please, just tell me. Whatever you have to say, it could never change my opinion of you. If that’s what you’re worried about.”

Despite what Shouyou thought would happen, what he said just seemed to make the situation ten times worse.

“How can you know that? Hinata, maybe there’s something wrong with me. Maybe I’m… not normal... Maybe… There’s something about me that’s so disgusting that when you learn about it, you won’t even be able to look me in the eyes.” Tobio’s voice cracked with the obvious effort he was exerting just to get these words out.

Shouyou racked his mind for anything that could possibly lead to him not being able to look Tobio in the eye, but stopped short. Idiot, why am i even trying to think of something? There isn’t anything to find.

“Listen,” Shouyou snapped, leaning forward on his knees, “There is nothing that could ever make me do that to you. So stop being a fucking stupid-head and tell me. I’m sorry but I’m done playing nice. I just want my Tobio back.”

Tobio flinched a bit when Shouyou said his name, but Shouyou thought nothing of it.

“Hinata, please. Just stop this. I just need to go ho- i just need to rest.” Tobio’s voice got a little softer towards the end.

Tobio’s voice didn’t carry at all and Shouyou had to strain his ear to catch the last sentence, but there’s no way Shouyou would ever forget it, “I just have no idea what you’re going to say or do when you find out that I’m in love with y-” Tobio’s eyes widened to the size of the moon, but then any energy that had been left in him seemed to dissipate, as Tobio curled in on himself even more.

Without thinking Shouyou asked curiously, “Wait, were you going to say that you’re in love with me?”

...

Tobio was silent.

“Wait, no!” Shouyou exclaimed as he realized the blunder he had made. “Like, I love you too!!! So it like works out!!! Right, Tobio? Tobio?”

Tobio looked up into Shouyou’s eyes, a spark of hope just disappearing from them.

“Right. Best friends.” Tobio muttered.

Oh, that’s what Tobio though I meant. Wow. Tobio’s an idiot, Shouyou thought to himself shaking his head. Well. Straight boys, Shouyou supposes, There’s nothing that can help it.

“So that’s what was bothering you?” Shouyou laughs a little to himself. “You were too obsessed with ‘no homo’ that you had to leave practice early?”

Tobio bit his lip, “Kinda the opposite... actually...”

Okay, so this was making no sense to Shouyou.

“Shouyou.” Tobio said. “I am trying to say that I don’t want to be just best friends. I don’t want to say no homo around you ever. I want to be with you always, and I get that you’re straight and all and maybe I’ll get over it, but I really really like you like a Lot, like I love you a lot, like I see you and my hear t goes “gwaah!!” and I know you’re probably just like whatever but I want to play volleyball with you and video games and race you to school everyday. But that’s not all! I- I-I-”

Before either of them really knew what was happening Shouyou’s lips were pressed against his. No matter how much Shouyou wanted to fight the cliche, when he kissed Tobio for the first time, sparks really did seem to fly, and a warmth that he had never known before filled him up. It was a little awkward at first; Tobio still had his legs pulled up to his chest, but both Shouyou and Tobio laughed around their kiss as they repositioned themselves. Shouyou pressed Tobio against the grass as they continued clashing their lips together.

But alas, humans required air for life, so Shouyou pulled away first and rested his head on Tobio’s chest, his breathing unsteady.

“Well, that was not- I mean, um...” Tobio tried to say something.

“Shut up, baka.” Shouyou said through a laugh, “I love you, too.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is kinda... idk... not happy at all... I mean... Tobio had bad parents what can I say?

Tobio wrapped his arms around Shouyou and they embraced for a few seconds, before Shouyou lifted his head and their lips were interlocked once again.With everything happening so fast, Shouyou didn’t register the sound of a car rolling down the street. That is, until he heard the loud thud of a car door slamming shut, and by then it was too late.

“KAGEYAMA TOBIO! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?”A thundering voice from their right snapped Shouyou and Tobio out of their fantasy.

Tobio pushed Shouyou off of him and stumbled backwards to lean against a nearby tree for support. “It’s not what- no- It is what you think it is... Mom...”

Tobio’s mother and father emerged from the silver minivan parked haphazardly along the side of the road. Shouyou had never seen anyone’s face as red as the Kageyamas’ were at the moment. If he hadn’t been paralyzed with fear at the thought of Tobio’s parents finding out about them, he would have run away screaming.

Tobio murmured something to Shouyou out of the corner of his mouth before his parents got to them, “Did you say you wanted to know why i was upset?”

Shouyou gaped at him. “Not like this,” he mumbled back.

He turned to look at Tobio, not being able to get a good look at him before, and was overwhelmed at the sight of pure terror he saw in front of him. Realization dawned on Shouyou. Tobio hadn’t been so upset over just having his “gay awakening.” It had something to do with his parents, Shouyou was sure of it. He had always thought of the Kageyamas as accepting, but... Obviously not…

Tobio was yanked to his feet by his mother and forced to meet her eyes as she held Tobio by the chin and exclaimed, “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS,  TOBIO?!”

Tobio tried to shrink away, but Mrs. Kageyama was firm in her grip.

“We talked about this last night Tobio-chan,” she spoke, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “When you told us about your... condition... What did we say? What did we say, sweetheart?” Despite the pet names, Shouyou could hear how hostile her voice got on the last question. He didn’t like it.

Tobio averted her gaze and stubbornly kept his mouth shut. But that really hadn’t been a good idea.

“Answer your mother Tobio.” Tobio’s father demanded, not even attempting to appear amicable. “Or have you lost all sense of decency, too? You won’t even show respect to your parents?” He sneered.

Tobio succeeded in defiantly jerking his face away from his mother.

“No.” he grunted through his teeth.

“Don’t be silly, now, Tobio. Come on, we’re going home. Get in the car,” his mother snapped as she grabbed his arm and steered him toward the car. “We’ll be taking you to conversion therapy tomorrow.”

Tobio broke free of her grasp and tried to hide the look of horror on his face, but failed, “I said no, mom. I’m not going… there.”

Shouyou, still in a little bit of shock, finally broke his silence. “No, Mrs. Kageyama. there’s no way Tobio will ever go to conversion therapy. Not while I’m here. Do you- do you even know what they do there?” He pleaded with Tobio’s parents, “They change who you are. They torture you into forgetting yourself. How could you ever think of putting your own son through that?!”

The Kageyamas looked at Shouyou as if they had just noticed he was there.

“And you,” the surprise at seeing Shouyou quickly turned into anger, “What have you done to my son? You don’t even know what you’re talking about. You are just as broken as he is, so-”

Just then, Tobio somehow worked up the nerve to retaliate, “Shouyou is not broken! And neither am I!”

Tobio’s mother just talked over him, “Do your parents know how disgusting you are, Hinata-san? I wonder how they would react to learning that their son is... gay...”

Shouyou knew he had the upper hand, so he didn’t stop Mrs. Kageyama when she reached into purse for her cell phone.

“You’re parents seem like sensible people. Why don’t we call them, and inform them of how you’ve been... corrupting my son?”

Mrs. Kageyama took Shouyou biting his lip as a sign that he was scared or worried about what she was about to do, not even considering that he was trying to hold back laughter. Tobio shot a concerned glance at Shouyou, also in the dark for what was about to happen.

She swiped through her phone contacts list and tapped a spot on the screen before holding the phone to her face with a satisfied grin. Boy, did she really have something coming. Shouyou had to refrain from snickering.

The phone was ringing. Shouyou’s mother picked up, and Mrs. Kageyama pressed the “speaker phone” button.

“ _Hello, Kageyama-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call? Is Shouyou going to be spending the night again? Because I told you, you don’t need to call me about that anymore._ ” Mrs. Hinata chuckled on the other side of the line.

Mrs. Kageyama still had that scary grin on her face- Shouyou now saw where Tobio got his death grin from.

“Oh, no, Hinata-san. I just thought I’d inform you that your son has been...  _consorting_... with mine. I found them tonight... in the most innappropriate position...”

Tobio braced himself for the lecture and admonishing that was sure to come, and Mrs. Kageyama looked entirely too pleased with herself.

“ _You’re Kidding!_ ” Mrs.Hinata said, but in a bit of a different tone from what Tobio’s mother was expecting, “ _Finally! It’s about time, don’t you think? You have no idea how annoyed I was becoming at Shouyou’s constant ramblings about ‘Tobio this, Tobio that’. I’m surprised it took that that long though, to be honest. It was kind of rude of you to interrupt them, don’t you think?”_

Words could not describe the growing horror on Mrs. Kageyama’s face, or the increasing reddening on Shouyou’s cheeks as his mother spoke.

“E-excuse me?” Kageyama’s mother blurted incredulously, “You’re son is gay. Don’t you have anything to say about that? Are you just going to let him continue down this road of sin?!”

“ _Wait. That’s why you called? And here I was thinking how nice it was that our sons are dating... Ah well, Kageyama-san, you really did seem like a decent person up until now_ ,” Shouyou’s mother sighed on the other side of the line.

Dating. Shouyou recalled what his mother had just said with a slight smile.

Mrs. Kageyama couldn’t seem to form coherent words as she sputtered, “But... wrong...  _gay_...”

“ _Oh, Kageyama-san, you see I am not the ideal person for you to try your bigoted propaganda on. Oh dear me, this is awkward, but I have been an out and proud bisexual since before Shouyou was born, so..._ ” Hinata-san trailed off. Shouyou could practically see his mom’s smug grin from through the phone. It might have been as bad as his.

Tobio and Mrs. Kageyama were both awestruck, albeit for different reasons. Not a word was spoken by any of the Kageyamas.

“ _Well, I’ll be leaving now. If Shouyou is there tell him to come home soon. Also, tell Tobio that, since his home life is obviously less than happy, he’s welcome to stay here with us. Good night Kageyama-san._ ”

And with that Ms. Hinata promptly hung up the phone.

There was silence for a few moments, until Tobio spoke up.

“C’mon Shouyou. Let’s go.”

The elder Kageyamas broke out of their shock.

“Now wait just a diddly darn minute!” Mr. Kageyama snapped at the two teenaged boys. “Just where do you think you’re going, young man?”

However depressed and upset and broken Tobio had been earlier that night, with his feelings finally out in the open, Tobio seemed lighter, stronger, and happier than Shouyou had ever seen him, despite their current predicament.

“Well, you see,” Tobio’s sass was on fire, “I’m going home.”

And with that Tobio whipped his head around and grabbed Shouyou by the hand, pulling him to the other road.

“But Tobio,” Shouyou whispered worriedly, “our bikes... “

“Hush Shouyou, you’re going to ruin the dramatic effect.”

As they walked down the street toward Shouyou’s place, he couldn’t help but look back at the two bikes, sitting there, waiting to be ridden. Ah well I guess we’ll just have to pick them up tomorrow.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter. Idk why. It's cute. Also, we are still trying to work out the Hinata family dynamics, so forgive us if anything seems off. Sorry. Also, this chapter gives a little hint at something that we are VERY excited to write. It might take a few more chapters, but oh yes!!! So, yeah... Enjoy! If you have any suggestions, we're open to it. Oh, I almost forgot, We have finals and AP tests coming up, so if we don't update very often, sorry, but... "Education is important." But for real, we gotta study so we don't have as much time to write. Especially Ishna. She studies way more than me... ANYway... Continue reading....

Shouyou fumbled with the key and let out a satisfied sound when he heard the “click” of the door. He almost fell backwards when he saw his mother standing about a foot from the doorway with a mischievous mischievous grin on her face.

“Oh, good! Tobio, you came! I don’t blame you at all from wanting to get away from that b-” She stopped herself short, closing her eyes and mouthed counting to ten before putting a smile back on her face.

“She better not have done anything to either of you, i swear.”

“Mom, we’re fine. I think Tobio just wants to relax for right now,” Shouyou said, judging from Tobio’s face. His previous bravado was completely diminished now, and he looked more like he was going to puke.

Mrs. Hinata gave a nod and they trudged up the stairs into Shouyou’s room.

“I can’t believe what I just did...” Tobio whimpered, clutching tight to Shouyou’s hand. They were sitting next to each other on Shouyou’s bed, but Shouyou wanted nothing more than to have Tobio in his arms and to murmur “i love you”s into his ears.

“It’s all okay, Tobio. You did the right thing. You got out of an unhealthy environment, and I’m so proud of you.”

“But they’re, They’re my family, Shouyou. And I abandoned them.” Tobio countered.

“Family? Does family shun their own because of something he can’t control? No. Baka. We — me, my mom, my dad, and Natsu —  we are your family now. ‘Cause I know that at least I will love you no matter what. Promise.” Shouyou ended his mini-speech with a kiss on Tobio’s cheek.

Tobio gave Shouyou a broken smile that didn’t fully convince him, but he would let it slide for right now. Besides, Shouyou knew this couldn’t be easy for Tobio. He gave Tobio one more kiss, this time on the lips, just to make sure he got the message.

They stayed there, Shouyou’s hand caressing Tobio’s face, until they realized that somehow they had gotten extremely close, and were practically lying down at this point, but neither of them paid any attention to it. Shouyou snuggled up closer to Tobio.

“We’ve had a crazy night. let’s just go to sleep,” Shouyou mumbled into Tobio’s ear.

Tobio only gave a sleepy nod that made Shouyou smile.

“Shouyou, I don’t know if I ever actually said it, but I love you. More than anything.”

Slowly, the two drifted to sleep in each other’s arms. That night was the best sleep either of them had had in weeks.

\---

“Ooooooh! Shouyou-nii’s got a boyfriend! Shouyou-nii’s got a boyfriend!!!!!”

The high and squeaky voice of Shouyou’s little sister was the first thing they heard when they woke up.

“Ugh Shouyou... Turn it off...” Tobio turned around, and Natsu got a better look at him. Shouyou probably should have mentioned that Tobio was not a morning person.

“Tobio-chan??? Is that you?” Natsu poked Tobio in the face with her finger. “Shouyou-nii didn’t tell me you were his boyfriend. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Natsu continued poking Tobio. Shouyou was about to say something to Natsu, to like protect her and stuff, but he was too late.

Tobio sat up carefully and leaned against his elbow with forced grace, a frightening expression on his face as he growled and bared his teeth at the little seven year old.

Natsu scampered behind the door, “Shouyou-niiiiiiiii!!!” Natsu whined, “You’re boyfriend scares meeeee!!!”

“Natsu!!” A voice resonated through the house from downstairs, “Tell your brother to come down for breakfast… and bring his boyfriend…”

Shouyou had completely forgotten: food. He had skipped dinner after practice because of everything that happened yesterday, and he couldn’t neglect his roaring stomach any longer.

Then he remembered another (less important) thing: today was thursday. They had school. Shouyou looked over to Tobio, who had thankfully had brought his school bag with him despite all the drama, and smiled. They were both still in their practice clothes.

“I guess you’ll have to borrow some of my clothes for right now,” Shouyou proposed apologetically.

Tobio looked at Shouyou and stood up, staring down at him from the six-inch difference. “Great.”

The pair quickly got dressed, Shouyou pulled on a new uniform shirt and pants. He had turned away from Tobio. Despite having changed in front of Tobio multiple times before -- the gym locker rooms hadn’t exactly been designed for privacy -- since their confessions last night, Shouyou felt extremely self conscious... Like, Shouyou knew he was toned from all the volleyball practice, but Tobio was just… wow. Shouyou hadn’t realized he’d been staring until Tobio had to clear his throat, but there was no hiding the red in both their cheeks as Shouyou whipped his head around. All Tobio was thinking throughout the whole interaction was “cute”. Shouyou was specifically surprised at Tobio’s morning ritual of getting his hair just right and making “cool” faces in the bathroom mirror, but he guessed sharing secrets was important in a relationship, anyways (although Shouyou was trying his hardest not to laugh). After that...peculiar morning, the two headed downstairs, finally,  for food.

Shouyou’s eyes sparkled at the sight of waffles topped with strawberries, whipped cream, and syrup.

“Thank’s for the food, mom!!” Shouyou exclaimed while sitting down and shoving his already adorned waffle into his mouth. Tobio calmly (or as calmly as he could— he was just as ravenously hungry as Shouyou) and began graciously eating, both of them seemingly oblivious to the grave looks the Hinatas were giving them, until they looked up.

“So, you know, us being parents, we have to set some ground rules for you if you’re going to be staying with us,” Mr. Hinata said sternly, his hands on the table. This man meant business.

Shouyou nodded and swallowed the big bite he had just taken, trying to match his parents’ serious demeanor.

“First off, Shouyou, I know you and Tobio are teenage boys, and you have... needs... And there’s nothing we could really do to stop it, even if we wanted to... if you two are living under the same roof...” Mr. Hinata trailed off, thinking of how to form his words, very conscious of the seven year old sitting across the table.

“But we need you to keep it down. You can’t wake your sister. And frankly, me and your father both would be better off not hearing that,” Mrs. Hinata finished for her husband. She was very blunt about it. Shouyou’s cheeks were turning red, as he shrank into his seat. And Tobio just stared straight ahead, eating careful bite after bite of waffle.

“We know mom,” Shouyou mumbled under his breath, avoiding the eyes of everyone at the table.

“And as much as it seems like Tobio is just coming over to visit, I don’t plan on letting him go back to that toxic environment anytime soon. So it won't be playing volleyball and video games all the time. I don’t want to see your school work suffer, either of you.”

Shouyou was going to have to tell his mother about Tobio’s lack of book smarts. Later.

“Okaaaay, well, thanks for that mom, and the breakfast was great, but you know, school.”

Shouyou slid out of his chair and out of the awkward situation, grabbing his bag and Tobio’s arm as they left through the front door after saying their goodbyes.

“Remember, I reserve the right to put you two on separate sides of the house if I see fit, so behave yourselves!” Mrs. Hinata called after them.

Shouyou wore a wide smile on his face as they neared the fork in the road where they found their bikes.

“I’ve missed you! I promise I won’t ever do that to you again.” At which point Tobio wondered if he had to be jealous of Shouyou’s bike…

“Hey Kagebaka!” Shouyou called over to Tobio. “Race?”

Tobio had a devilish grin on his face, “You’re on.”

\--

“Tobio,” Shouyou panted, out of breath from their race (the score was now 47 to 48; Tobio won this time). “Are we gonna tell the team?”

Tobio stopped in his tracks for a split second before continuing to walk his bike along the side of the road. “Yeah… I-I guess we should.”

Shouyou nodded. He wasn’t entirely convinced anyone way. Telling their teammates was going to be very important, but Shouyou didn’t want to risk anyone reacting badly. Especially after what had just happened with Tobio’s parents.. But he knew the team was amazing (plus, he was fairly sure Daichi-senpai and Suga-senpai had something going on…), and there was no way any of them would react like that… right?

“After practice today?”

Tobio gave a terse nod, but nothing beyond that. Shouyou could see how worried Tobio was, but if he was going to tell the team, Shouyou would stand by him. It was a fairly important thing to do; neither of them had officially come out yet. And beside their parents, their teammaates should be the first to know. (Well, Shouyou had come out to Kenma a few months ago, but that was beside the point.)

They both breathed a huge sigh as they neared Karasuno High, and prepared themselves for yet another stress-filled day.

Tobio pushed the main doors open.

“Meet up at lunch?” Tobio asked Shouyou.

“Of course, baka,” Shouyou snorted.

“See ya then.”

“Yeah, bye...”

“...I love you.”

“Love you too...”

And they parted ways to go to their separate classes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just so we're clear, I love Noya. Just know that as you read. There's some homophobic language, you have been warned.  
> Also, have you noticed the chapters are getting shorter? Yeah, sorry 'bout that.

After their last class, Shouyou and Tobio met at the back of the school a few buildings away from the gym.

Tobio was unusually quiet, but Shouyou didn’t have to venture far to imagine why.

“Hey,” Shouyou comforted, “it’s going to be okay. We have a great team.”

Tobio nodded and Shouyou slipped his hand into Tobio’s a gave a small squeeze and a peck on the cheek.

Tobio just stared at the ground, clearly not phased by Shouyou’s words, but gave a half-smile anyway and tried (and failed) to hide his obvious fear at the situation.

“Let’s just...practice for right now, okay?” Shouyou gave Tobio a smile and they made the trek to the gym for practice, holding hands until the very last minute. Shouyou didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little scared as well.

Practice went fairly smoothly for the team, Shouyou and Tobio occasionally sneaked reassuring or worried smiles at each other, hoping no one else noticed. It went by faster than they thought it would, and soon, Coach Ukai was yelling at them to clean up.

“Shouyou,” Tobio whispered to, obviously Shouyou, as they both pushed the cart of volleyballs into the equipment room, “I think I’m ready to tell them now.”

Shouyou got a determined look in his eyes, and he nodded. Very decisively. It was cute.

After clean up was done, Shouyou graciously let Tobio be the one to try and get the teams attention.

“Guys,” Tobio started off quietly, and Shouyou elbowed him in the ribs to get him to speak up, Tobio cleared his throat, “Guys. T-there’s something we have to tell you. Me and Shouyou... We need to tell you something.”

The team congregated in front of the couple and fell silent.

“Well, c’mon. Shoot. What’s your secret??” Tanaka probed, a little more excited than he should have been.

Tobio froze, because well... yeah... Tanaka was intense.

Shouyou leaned up to murmur reassuringly in Tobio’s ear, “It’s okay. I can take over for you if you want.”

“No, I can do it,” Tobio murmured back, not sounding as confident as he wanted to. Shouyou looked up, concerned for his boyfriend, but stepped back and allowed him to continue.

Tobio took a deep breath.

“Me and Shouyou are dating.”

Whoop there it is.

There was silence for a second or so, which made tobio even more nervous.

Just as it looked like Asahi and Daichi and Tanaka were all about to say something, Noya bursted out laughing.

“Good one, guys!” He said between fits of laughter, “I think you almost fooled us!”

He realized he was the only one laughing and exclaimed, “Oh c’mon, guys! They’re obviously joking! There’s no way they’re dating, that’s disgusting.”

Tobio’s face was worse than it was when he saw his mother yesterday. His own team. And that’s what they thought of him. Maybe, if the team thinks so, maybe him being an abomination was true after all… maybe…

“Noya. What the fuck do you mean by that?” Tanaka asked, “You got a problem with it? ‘Cause from what i can see, they look pretty serious about it to me.”

“So you’re saying you have a problem with me and Suga?” Daichi badgered him.

“W-wait… huh? You and Suga? Tanaka? You too?” Noya seemed extremely confused. “You guys know it’s not right! Right?”  

“Noya. W-why… How could you even say that…?” Asahi sounded like he was on the verge of tears. This whole thing was a mess and Shouyou was seeing red as he stared daggers at his so called “senpai.”

Tanaka took the front of Noya’s shirt and held him up against a wall.

“Are you even serious right now Noya?! Please tell me you’re joking, or i might have to punch you in the face.” He had his super-weird scary face on, and shit was about to go down.

“This...can’t be happening,” Noya mumbled, “You guys are all crazy!”

“I don’t even want to look at you right now, Noya,” Tanaka whispered.

“We’re the crazy ones?!” Tsukishima laughed humorlessly, as he pulled Yamaguchi close. Tsukishima gave Noya a ‘What-the-hell-you -gonna-do’ look, just darring him to say something.

“Get out.” Daichi mumbled, trying to calm himself down, then in a louder voice, said, “You’re banned from the team.”

Tanaka put Noya down to his normal height.

“...This is bullshit. No need to ban me, I was just about to leave anyway. I can't stand to be around fags like you anyway,” as Noya said the words, he knew he didn’t want to leave the team, but what choice did he have? They were all… gay.

Suga had to hold back Tanaka before he beat the living shit out of Noya. Tanaka himself was straight, but his sister is, and she’s fucking awesome. Plus, he, y’know, had the common decency not to judge people based on their sexuality, or anything else.

“I-I’m sorry,” Tobio hung his head, “ We never should have said anything. This was a bad idea. I’m just going to l-”

“Shut the fuck up, Kageyama. Noya is a fucking asshole, and he didn’t deserve our company, anyways.” The words, surprisingly enough, came from Tsukishima, who was still holding tight on to Yamaguchi.

“I second that. There is nothing wrong with liking guys, Kageyama,” this time it was Daichi’s words of encouragement.

Nobody had noticed Shouyou until Tobio turned around to see a sniffling, bowed head. Tears were dripping from Shouyou’s eyes onto the hardwood flooring of the gym, and not even a second had passed until Tobio had his arms around Shouyou.

“Hey now, Shouyou,” Tobio tried to make his words as soft as possible, “Don’t think about Nishinoya.”

Shouyou started to hiccup as he held back tears, “I kno-know what I-I said be-before, but I ne-nev-never thought that-that N-n-Noya-senpai would react like that!!!” Shouyou wailed, not being able to hold it in. Shouyou’s tears soiled Tobio’s shirt, and Tobio just let him cry. Shouyou had idolized Noya. He was the “little giant” Shouyou had aspired to be, and to have his idol completely disapprove of and shun him like that was the worst experience Shouyou had ever had.

“I didn’t expect it either, Shouyou,” Tobio said.

Other members of the team seemed to be having trouble with what had just happened with Nishinoya. Asahi was curled up into a ball by the wall with his head in between his knees a little bit away from Tobio and Shouyou. Tsukishima was leaning against the wall with Yamaguchi, who seemed to be having a small freak out of his own. Suga and Daichi were talking in hushed tones, both casting the occasional worried glance at their younger teammates and Asahi. The other second years all kind of sat in a group in another part of the gym talking amongst themselves. Tanaka was punching the volleyballs that Tobio and Shouyou had just put away.

“Hey everybody!” Coach Ukai came back into the gym, “You guys had a great practice today! Does anyone... want meat buns....?” He trailed off as he took in the terrible site that was the Karasuno gym.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded of Daichi, “Where’s Noya?”

Suga could see how tense Daichi was and he rested a hand on his boyfriend’s upper arm.

“Nishinoya,” Daichi started through clenched teeth, “will not be coming back to the team. Not until he reconciles with everyone that he hurt today. And means it.”

Coach Ukai scratched behind his ear, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be more specific.”

Suga jumped in with the whole story, explaining in hushed tones, so that the rest of the team wouldn’t have to be reminded anymore.

The coach nodded his head and agreed to the team’s consensus. Noya wasn’t coming back until he learned a thing or to. And despite how much everyone loved him, now everyone could definitely use a break from him.

As Suga, Daichi and Coach Ukai talked, most of the team began to recover. Shouyou stopped crying and was snuggling against Tobio. Yamaguchi had calmed down and he and Tsukishima were in a similar position. Asahi got up from where he was and had now rejoined the group, but still had a miserable look on his face. Tanaka went from punching the volleyballs to clenching and unclenching his fist next to Asahi. The second years had all left by now, anyway.

But there was still a huge gaping hole in the middle of the Karasuno Volleyball team. Nishinoya was gone. And there was no telling if he was coming back.

“So...  Meat buns?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I do like Noya, but I needed someone to so that, and I felt like he was the best choice. Don't Hate Me!!!


	5. Side Chapter: Meat Buns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place right after the last chapter. It's just a really short little thing, But I like it. If you disagree with any of our headcanons for these characters' sexualities, we do too. This isn't even 200 words, but it took me and Ishna like 45 minutes to write because we were fighting over each one. I can't believe we didn't match up for almost any of them. The exceptions: Kageyama and Tanaka.  
> Oh, and in case you were wondering after last chapter, We do head-cannon Noya as gay. It'll work out in the end, we promise.

After their long day, the team walked down the street to the grocery store for meat buns. The mood was overall still somber. But there was a question burning in Tanaka’s mind. It demanded an answer.

As they sat near the bike stand and gobbled down meat buns, Tanaka asked it. “Wait, so how many of you guys are gay?”

Everybody else just stared at him for a few seconds.

“Well,” Suga broke the silence, “I’m actually pansexual.”

Everybody nodded.

“And Tadashi’s bisexual,” Tsukishima answered for his boyfriend, who didn’t seem like he could talk yet. “I’m just super hella gay.”

“Same here,” Daichi chimed in.

Asahi squirmed around a bit before hesitantly raising his hand and confessing,”I’m gay, too.”

Tobio raised his hand too, "Me too. I'm pretty sure."

"I'm bi," Shouyou admitted.

"Wait really?" Tobio interjected, this was news to him.

"Yeah."

 

“...So basically, I’m the only straight one.” Tanaka pondered, then shrugged his shoulders and kept eating his meat bun. “Works for me.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day. School....and BETRAYAL!!!! Just kidding, except not really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots and Lots of homophobia in this chapter. And mentions of conversion therapy. I'm sorry. If these things trigger you, just don't read this chapter at all. And probs not the next one either. We don't even know if this is really what we wanted to do with the story, sorry. I'm happy with how this is written, but plot-wise, I just don't know. I hope you guys like it. Also, I really don't hate Tobio, but someone had to have the asshole parents. Also, I think the T rating still stands, but idk...

The next day Shouyou and Tobio held hands as they made their way to school. They made sure to untangle their hands as Karasuno came into view.

“It’s finally Frinday,” Shouyou sighed, “I just want to get this day over with and play Halo.”

They pushed open the double doors and headed to their separate classes, but both immediately noticed the strange looks people were giving them down the halls and how people started inching away from them when they walked.

Shouyou sat down at his desk, only to have the surrounding people scoot away from him. Something weird was going on.

All of Shouyou’s classes seemed to go like this. The teachers looked down on him more than usual. The boys that he had made friends with in his class ignored him when he asked them if they wanted to play Halo with him and Tobio that night. The only response he seemed to get from the girls in his class was a giggle to their friends. Huh.

By the time lunch rolled around, Shouyou was in a very bad mood. All he wanted to do was spend time with Tobio, but this single lunch period was not going to be enough.

When Shouyou reached the lunch room, Tobio was waiting for him. Everyone was avoiding Tobio too, giving him a wide radius; it made Shouyou feel awkward as he had to walk across approximately 3 meters of empty floor to reach his boyfriend.

“Hey Tobio. So this has been happening to you all day too?” Shouyou asked, but he already knew what the answer would be.

“Yes,” Toibo blurted bitterly, a scowl on his face, “I don’t know what their fucking problem is. I swear the next person who looks at me funny is going home with a black eye.”

As if on que, a kid walked across the room near their table, giving Shouyou and Tobio a disgusted look. Tobio had had enough of this shit.

He got up from the bench where they sat and walked up to the boy. Shouyou tagged along, on hand in case Tobio tried to kill the guy. Shouyou would want to help.

“Okay, what’s your fucking problem?” Tobio exclaimed through gritted teeth, grabbing the other student’s shirt collar.

“I have had fucking enough of this bullshit. What are you trying to accomplish by this, huh? What did we fucking do?” Toibo’s voice became dangerously loud, and a croud of people started gathering around the three of them.

“I bet you think this is funny, right? Some kind of prank? I’m fucking done, so tell me what you’re doing or I’ll-”

“Kageyama Toibo,” Their quarrel was interrupted by the loud speakers, “Please report to the guidance counselor's office.”

They were all silent for a bit as Tobio let go of the other student’s shirt and walked towards the door, with Shouyou close behind, not wanting to be alone for a second.

While they walked to the doors that led out into the hall, Shouyou could’ve sworn he’d heard someone say, “Yeah, go back where you came from, fags.” Tobio’s face as he’d heard it was one, yet again, of complete terror. Shouyou thought to himself that Tobio had that face on far too many times, and he had to do something about that.

They walked down the halls toward the counselor’s office, hands held tightly together. As they reached the door to the office, both Shouyou and Tobio were caught off guard when they found Noya walking out of the same door. He moved his mouth to say something, with an apologetic look on his face, but he was the last thing either of them wanted to deal with right now.

Whatever Noya had to say was of no consequence to Shouyou anymore.

Shouyou saw that three chairs had been set up in front of the counselor’s desk. One of them was already filled.

Shouyou and Tobio realized what Noya had been trying to say, only now it was too late.

In the third chair sat none other than Mrs. Kageyama herself.

“Hello, Tobio,” she said briskly, a pinched, forced smile on her face, not even sparing a passing glance at Shouyou.

Oh shit.

“Hello... Mother...” Tobio answered her, looking around the room. At the door, at the pictures on the wall, anywhere but where his mom sat.

Shouyou didn’t see how this situation could ever have a happy ending.

“Hinata,” Mrs. Kageyama snapped, getting red in the face. “What are you doing here?”

Shouyou started to reply, but was interrupted.

“No, no, it’s good that he’s here,” the guidance counselor consoled Mrs. Kageyama, before turning on Shouyou and Tobio.

“Hinata-san, Kageyama-san, why don’t you have a seat?” the guidance counselor, Fukuda-sensei, gestured to the empty seats. Shouyou quickly took the one closer to Mrs. Kageyama; he would keep as much distance between her and Tobio as possible.

“Now, boys,”  Fukuda-sensei started, another forced smile on her face. Shouyou was getting real tired of these stupid smile. If you weren’t happy, don’t make any pretenses. “I’m sure you know why you are here.”

A reassuring smile. God, Shouyou hated it. It was so fake. But, though he didn’t know for certain, Shouyou had a damn good guess as to why, and a quick glance at Tobio told him that they were thinking the same thing.

“No, I don’t,” Shouyou stated stubbornly with his nose in the air.

Fukuda-sensei’s smile wavered. “I see, Hinata... Well, I have received intel from a student who says that you and Kageyama-san have been… committing… acts of adultery. We called you two here so we could discuss how to fix you. I’m sure you’ll thank us in the long run, trust me.”

The look Tobio had on his face could have burned down forests. Shouyou wasn’t far from that either.

“That’s right, honey. We’re going to get you back to normal,” Mrs. Kageyama pruned in an uncharacteristically honey-sweet voice, “Isn’t that great? The young man with that strange hair on your volleyball team was such a gentleman for letting us know about our current predicament. Now, we can cut off this problem at the roots, before it gets out of hand, like his hair.”

Noya. She meant Noya. Tobio and Shouyou both knew it. Noya had sold them out. He had betrayed them far more than they had thought, and now they weren’t so sure if he could ever be forgiven.

Shouyou and Tobio were both silent, a thousand things running through their heads, but not a single word to speak. They reached out their hands subconsciously hoping to find a small comfort through it, but the moment their hands met, Fukada-sensei lunged across her desk and grabbed both boys hands in hers, pulling them apart.

“See, we have programs that will get rid of this illness that makes you want to sin like this. Don’t you want to get better?” Why did Shouyou get the feeling Fukuda-sensei and Kageyama-san would be great friends?

“And Hinata-san, we can get your parents in here to discuss your options. I’m sure they’d like to know of your... sins...” Fukuda-sensei trailed off. “We have plenty of options for you too.”

Shouyou finally regained his voice, “Are you fucking talking about conversion therapy?”

Normally, Shouyou tried not to curse, but there were some things that just made him so fucking angry (conversion therapy being on the very tip-top of that list). There was no way that he would let Tobio, or anyone else he cared about, go to conversion therapy.

“Well, yes, I suppose,” Fukuda-sensei confirmed, confused by Shouyou anger. “Oh, but don’t worry, they really do get good results.”

“GOOD RESULTS?!?!” Shouyou screeched. “How could you say that!! Do you- do you even realize what they do there?!?! It’s literally torture!!! There is no way you are taking me or Tobio anywhere near there.”

“Well, that’s not your decision, is it, Hinata Shouyou?” Mrs. Kageyama asked, all false sweetness gone. “I want to save my son! And I will do anything!”

“But sending him to conversion therapy isn’t saving him, it will destroy him!”

“Isn’t it funny, Hinata-san, Tobio hasn’t said anything yet.” Mrs. Kageyama said with a smirk on her face, entirely too self confident. “So, Tobio-chan, what do you say? You do want to be saved, Right?”

Tobio looked straight into his mother’s eyes and said, “Mom, let’s get one thing clear. Your definition of ‘saved’ is completely different than mine.”

His mother’s expression went blank. She was beyond pissed, and it was scary as hell.

“Fukuda-san, if I may say something, I believe Hinata to be the cause of all of this. He is corrupting my son, and I feel that any more contact between the two will only make things worse. So, for the time being, I think it  would be best for me to remove Tobio from school,” she paused, wearing a devilish grin that could only mean bad things, “and the Karasuno Volleyball Team, as well.”

“What!!” Tobio and Shouyou exclaimed in unison. Shouyou expected it to be bad. Really bad, but not this. Not volleyball. Shouyou knew volleyball was the only thing Tobio could really be free with. When he saw Tobio play, it was like watching magic happen before his eyes. And now his mother was taking that away from him. It was all Shouyou’s fault.

“Mom! You can’t! Please!” Tobio pleaded with his mom, “Please, I’ll do anything mom! You can’t take me out of volleyball!”

Mrs. Kageyama clucked her tongue, “Oh, Tobio, it is only temporary. Once you are better again, you can play volleyball all you like, but until then, that team is just too much of a bad influence. Except for that Nishinoya boy. We might even have to consider transferring schools. Didn’t you want to go to… what was it? Aoba Johsai?”

“That’s not it! All my friends are here! My boyfriend-” Tobio cut off as he realized what he had been about to say.

Mrs. Kageyama breathed in sharply and pointed a finger at him, “See! This is exactly why you need help! You don’t _have_ a boyfriend! You can’t. And this therapy will help!”

“Mom, no!” Tobio protested, getting red in the face.

“NO!” Mrs. Kageyama screamed. “This isn’t open for discussion, Tobio! Fukuda-sensei, I’d like to pull my son out of school.”

Fukuda-sensei pulled out the paperwork -- she had had the papers already set to go.

Mrs. Kageyama signed where directed.

And that was the end of it.

Tobio’s mother recollected herself, then grabbed her son’s arm and led him out of the room. Shouyou stared after them, and caught Tobio’s eyes. He looked distraught, and it was all Shouyou could do not to pry Tobio out of the witch’s clutches and run home. But before he could do any of that, Tobio was pulled out of his sight. There wasn’t really anything Shouyou could have done, and he knew it. But that was it. No good-bye’s or anything.

Tobio was gone, and as far as Shouyou knew, it could have been forever.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath, and a glimpse of hope at the end. I promise the next chapter will be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? I'm proud of myself.... Just kidding. Ishna had this chapter already written. I literally did nothing. Oh, there are some slurs in here, said by Hinata... Heads up...   
> I realized that I haven't thanked anyone yet for all comments, kudos, and bookmarks! Like seriously guys, thank you so much!!!

For the rest of the day, Shouyou had to suffer through the jeering and disgusted looks, made even worse because now he knew why they were jeering, but it was nothing compared to knowing that Tobio was gone. His mother had put him on house arrest and would be sending him to conversion therapy from now on. Shouyou couldn’t bear the thought of it, and he was scared to imagine what Tobio must have been feeling.

That evening he skipped volleyball practice, and sped his bike straight over to the Kageyamas’ house. Urgently, he knocked on the door, knowing someone was home since both their cars were in the driveway. Even so, no one answered. Shouyou went around the back of the house to where he could see Tobio’s room window, but he was nowhere to be seen. At this point, Shouyou gave up for the day and biked back to his own home, promising himself he would try again tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that.

Shouyou closed the front door quietly, hoping he could just sneak up to his room, and maybe hide there for the next year.

“Hey Shouyou! What’re you doing back so early?” the cheery voice of Shouyou’s mom asked.

So, plan failed.

Shouyou stopped where he was, halfway to the stairs, “Um... I didn’t feel like practice today.”

Mrs. Hinata frowned, a little crease formed between her eyebrows as she studied her son. A horrible face of realization passed over her face, and she asked, though she already knew the answer wasn’t going to be pleasant, “Where’s Tobio?”

Shouyou tensed up immediately and his backpack dropped to the floor, cruelly emphasizing his mother’s question.

“Today, uh,” Shouyou cleared his throat, trying his damned best not to cry. “Today we were called to the counselor's office, and Mrs. Kageyama was there. Noya-senpai, he told her about everything. And now everyone knows. She pulled Tobio out of school. ...And volleyball. She’s ...going to send him to conversion therapy,” Shouyou’s voice broke as the tears started to flow.

“Oh, Shouyou...” Mrs. Hinata drew her son into her arms to try and comfort him. It was a nice gesture, and Shouyou appreciated it, but he couldn’t help but wish that the arms that surrounded him were Tobio’s. The thought only made Shouyou cry harder.

“We’ll figure this out, Shouyou.” Mrs. Hinata consoled. “I can go talk to the Kageyama’s. We’ll get Tobio back and out of that environment, I promise.”

\--

The next day, people were acting the same, and Shouyou realized he would have to get used to it from now on. During lunch, Yamaguchi walked up to where he sat, alone, followed by Tsukishima (they were practically inseparable).

“Hey, Hinata. Things have been kind of rough for you lately. Are you alright?” Yamaguchi asked, already knowing the answer.

“Are you guys sure you want to associate with a faggot?” Shouyou mumbled, looking down at his food bitterly. Staying positive without Tobio was to hard; he didn’t even want to try.

“...You do realize we’re dating, right?” Tsukishima said nonchalantly as they took seats opposite to Shouyou. Honestly, there wasn’t much Shouyou wanted to say to them, or anyone. He had made the decision not to go to practice unless Tobio was there as well, as his own silent protest. Plus, volleyball just wouldn’t be volleyball without him.

\--

He knocked on the Kageyamas’ door the same way the next day, and still, nothing. Shouyou was even desperate enough to succumb to the cliche of throwing stones at Tobio’s bedroom window, but to no avail.

His days continued in this same fashion for another week, but Shouyou wouldn’t ever stop trying.

Once, as he walked up the pathway to their front door, he nearly bumped into a priest holding a bible in his hand and clutching the cross around his neck with the other. Shouyou had never seen him before, but he gave off a vibe that made Shouyou want to run all the way back home. This was Tobio’s therapist. Shouyou was sure of it. And knowing that, Shouyou had to seriously restrain himself from punching him in the face.

He never saw the man, or any other sign of life, again for the next week. The team members would occasionally try to talk to him, asking why he never showed or where Tobio went, which only made things worse.

That Friday, Shouyou was seriously considering breaking down the door of they didn’t answer. But he didn’t need to.Because someone did open the door this time.

Shouyou trudged up the path to the front door of the evil witch castle and knocked on the door three times.

He jumped, surprised, when the door _actually_ opened. But Shouyou didn’t know what would’ve been worse: having nothing happen, or having to see the sight that was in front of him right now.

The door creaked open, and standing before Shouyou was Tobio himself.

But… he _wasn’t himself_.

Tobio looked absolutely horrible.

He stood in front of Shouyou in black sweat pants and a t-shirt, his shoulders slouched, and his limbs weak. It seemed to Shouyou like it was a struggle for Tobio even to stand up like he was. His hair was matted to his forehead with sweat and he had dark circles surrounding his eyes. His lips were chapped and dry along with his skin. It was excruciatingly painful even looking at him. Tobio looked at Shouyou, and his expression of complete defeat turned into one of slight hope.

“Shouyou,” he whispered in a parched voice, making Shouyou flinch, “You’re here?”

Tobio attempted a smile, but flinched with pain at the movement of his muscles.

“Oh my god, Tobio,” Shouyou breathed, trying to hold back tears, “What have they done to you?”

There was no holding the tears back in the first place. They rolled down Shouyou cheeks like tsunamis and he had to struggle to keep quiet as he reached into Tobio for a hug.

Tobio hesitated as Shouyou neared him, which confused him.

“Hinata,” a sharp voice halted Shouyou in his step, “I’m sorry but what do you think you’re doing here?”

The terrible face of Mrs. Kageyama looked down on Shouyou.

“Tobio has therapy today, and your presence is not wanted,” she quipped, words like knives.

“Please leave, Hinata,” Tobio whispered, not looking at Shouyou.

_N-no. What?_ Shouyou couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

“T-tobio?” Shouyou’s voice broke and his eyes started to water as he stared at the broken human being that was Kageyama Tobio.

“You heard him, Hinata,” Mrs. Kageyama sneered, “ _Please leave_.”

Hinata started to back up in horror. This wasn’t right.

Mrs. Kageyama pulled her son into what was maybe supposed to be an affectionate hug and cooed in Tobio’s ear, “Good job Tobio, good job! See Father Higuchi’s therapy is working! We’re so proud of the progress you’re making! Can’t you not wait to share this development with Father? I know he’ll be proud too.”

Tobio stood there, eyes unfocused, not responding to his mother at all.

This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right.

Shouyou could see the pain Tobio was in, and there was nothing he could do about it...

Wait.

Maybe there was.

Shouyou turned and ran home as fast as he could.

“I’ll be back again tomorrow, Tobio,” he promised the wind. “And tomorrow, we will save you.”

 


	8. TsukkiYama Aside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Tsukki's birthday. Nothing sexual tho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... I think I told someone in the comments that we would have had this chapter up like 10 days ago, but... That didn't happen, sorry! We had finals, but that's over now, so we should be writing more! Also, I know that last chapter was... yeah... and believe me I know that y'all want to see what happens, but I saw this art on Tumbr and I couldn't NOT write something for it... Yeah, also this fic was getting way too depressing for me, so I mixed it up a bit, I'm sorry! We should be back to the main story in two chapters. We have one more sort of side chapter planned that will give some resolution to Nishinoya. So that's next! Thanks for reading!

Tadashi snuck up behind Kei as he was about to walk out of the school building.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” He yelled, not worried about other people hearing since the halls were mostly empty by now, though Kei suspected people in America could hear him.

“Don’t be so loud, Tadashi,” Kei mumbled, trying and failing to keep a smile off of his face.

"But Tsukki...." Tadashi whined, elongating the 'I,' "it is your birthday! We should be celebrating!"

“We have to get to practice, remember?”

“Pshhh. You can skip practice for one day!” Tadashi snaked his arms around Kei's waist and gave him a peck on the cheek, “Besides, I… I got you something…” He said shyly.

Kei raised his eyebrows and, with a teasing grin on his face, inquired, “Oh?”

Tadashi smiled and led Tsukki by the arm out the doors, starting their walk home.

“I’ll show you when we get to my house.”

They walked down the path to Tadashi’s house (Kei was planning on going there  anyway) and finally reached it after about twenty minutes.

They came inside, greeted Tadashi’s parents, and headed up to his room, where Tadashi, seemingly embarrassed, pulled out a gift bag from his backpack.

Kei held back another teasing grin at the fact that he actually went through the trouble of wrapping a present. He took the bag from a flustered Tadashi and poked his hand inside of it.  

So he got him… some clothes? What was so embarrassing about that?

Kei pulled the fabric out of the bag and began inspecting it.

It was just a black shirt. Huh?

Oh, wait. He was holding it backwards.

He turned the shirt around, but not before catching a glimpse of Tadashi’s horrified (but cute) expression.

After taking one glimpse at the front of the shirt, Kei burst out in a fit of laughter. He actually couldn’t physically stop laughing. It was something he had never experienced before.

On the front of the black t-shirt were (written in colorful letters, mind you) the words “VOLLEY MY BALLS”

“Tsukki,” Tadashi squeaked, slightly taken aback by Kei’s sudden outburst. “Does... that mean you like it...?”

Tadashi was staring at the ground as his cheeks grew redder by the minute. Kei was still shaking his head at his adorable boyfriend.

“You know, Tadashi,” Kei drawled, still admiring the shirt, “I’ll have to wear this shirt everyday to practice from now on.”

Groaning, Tadashi buried his face in his hands.

“Hey now,” Kei murmured as he caressed Tadashi’s cheek forcing Tadashi’s hands away, “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

Kei pulled Tadashi into a kiss, whispering a small ‘i love you’ into his boyfriend’s ear.

_**THE NEXT DAY** _

The team was just getting changed in the locker room, Tadashi included, when Kei showed up.

Kei walked in. Everybody stopped. Tadashi groaned.

Kei crossed directly to Tadashi and stopped in front of him. Smirking mercilessly, he pointed down to the shirt he was wearing. And winked.

“So you weren’t joking?” Tadashi shook his head at Kei, smiling like an idiot.

Kei looked a Tadashi straight on, “No.”

“Well okay then.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did it take us 18 months to write 500 words? Yes. Yes, it did. I'm not even gonna apologise, because that fact that we continued this at all is a miracle, I'm telling you.

The whole team’s heads turned as Shouyou walked into the gym that day for practice. He hadn’t shown up for at least two weeks. And he looked absolutely wretched. 

“Hinata? What’s up?” Tanaka spoke up with a concerned look.

“Guys,” Shouyou mumbled, then raised his voice to say, “I need to tell you something.”

The team almost simultaneously stopped whatever warmup they were doing, giving their full attention to Shouyou.

“I... uh, I don’t know if you were told,” all the words Shouyou needed to say kept getting stuck in his throat. The whole team was staring at him. And even if he usually didn’t have this problem, this time Tobio was counting on him. “But, uh, Tobio was removed from school here. I-including...the team.”

The rest of the team was uncharacteristically somber as they waited for Shouyou to continue. They hadn’t really known that Kageyama was actually removed from school, but around the same time Shouyou stopped showing up for practice, a teacher had come in and told Takeda-sensei about Kageyama being removed from the team. Daichi nodded for Shouyou to continue.

“And…,” this was the hard part, “well, since his mother found out about our relationship… she signed him up for… conversion therapy.” He choked out the last words like they were poison in his mouth. The other second years nodded, like the other second years do, but this time it was a sad nod.

What the fuck. Suga clutched his chest and Asahi started crying. Tanaka dropped to his knees and began meditating for Tobio’s life. This was worse than anything they had imagined.

“F-for the past two weeks he’s been going through that. I’ve tried to see him everyday since then, but he was never there. B-but then… this Friday, I rang their doorbell, and he answered it.” The team expected for Shouyou to be happy at this, but it was getting harder and harder for him to talk.

He looked up from the death glare he had on the wood floor of the gym.

“H-he looked… absolutely horrible. I felt like i wasn’t even looking at Tobio anymore,” Shouyou’s voice cracked, tears swelling in his eyes as he thought back to that night, “I don’t know what they were doing to him, but from where i was standing, it looked nothing short of torture.”

Suga bit his lip and looked at Daichi with pleading eye - something had to be done. No one else on the team was equipped to handle this situation; it had to be Daichi.

“Don’t worry, Hinata,” Daichi did his best to comfort the sobbing boy. “We’ll get him out.”

Shouyou hiccuped and dried his eyes, trying to stop the tears.

“Okay Daichi... I trust you.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Finale

The team huddled together on the volleyball court, all wearing serious expressions and looking at Daichi expectantly.

Daichi let out a sigh. “Okay. You guys know the plan.” They all nodded, and Shouyou tried to keep himself from spewing his breakfast all over the wooden floor.

Daichi rested a hand on Shouyou’s back to comfort him awkwardly. He couldn’t imagine what the younger boy was going through, but everyone cared for Tobio like family (despite his attitude), and they were going to get him out of there.

Shouyou had gone back and forth between almost crying and almost throwing up ever since he knew what the team was planning to do. He was terrified, but this seemed like the only solution. 

“Daichi,” Shouyou asked in a quiet voice, so out of character that would have worried the other if he wasn’t already so on edge, “would you mind if I called my mom? Y’know just to let her know what’s up.”

Daichi nodded numbly at Shouyou, before dropping his hand from Shouyou’s back and walking ahead to catch up with the rest of the team, who were all already in the parking lot. “Sure. Join us in the van when you’re done.” 

Shouyou nodded back, acknowledging Daichi’s request before stepping to the side and pulling out his beat up cell phone. Pressing the first number on his speed dial, Shouyou jumped from foot to foot, nerves racking through him and making him all jittery as he waited for his mom to pick up.

She answered the phone after the third ring.

“Shouyou,” his mom said before Shouyou could say anything. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Nothing happened at school, did it?”

Hearing the affection and nervousness in his mom’s voice paralleling Shouyou’s own feelings made Shouyou feel less alone, and he could feel the anxiousness seeping out of his body the longer his mom talked.

“No, mom, nothing happened,” Shouyou did his best to ease her worries. “Not yet, at least.”

“Not yet,  _ not yet! _ Hinata Shouyou did someone threaten you? If you need me to pick you up - Nope, I’m on my way right now you start biking, I’ll pick you up on the way. Oh my poor -”

Shouyou cut his mom off before she could work herself into even more of a frenzy, “No, that’s not it at all! I was just, we’re going to save Tobio.”

“Oh.,” Shouyou’s mom seemed a bit stumped for a second before she drew a breath and proceeded more calmly than before. “Okay, Shouyou. Do you need help? I can be there if you need me.”

Shouyou smiled wide and shook his head before remembering his mom couldn’t see him.

“Nope, mom, it’s okay! The whole team minus Nishinoya is coming to help! We’ll be fine! I just wanted to let you know what was going on, and to hear your voice!”

“Aw, you’re such a sweet boy,” Shouyou’s mom cooed, ignoring Shouyou’s childish protests (“No I’m not!”). “Okay, I trust you, and I trust Daichi and Sugawara not to let anything bad happen. Call me if you need any back up, m’kay? Good luck!”

“Okay,” Shouyou agreed, “Love you!”

“I love you too, now go save your man!”

Shouyou hung up the phone with a smile on his face. He always felt better after talking to his family, especially his mom. He was still in low spirits, still much too torn up about Tobio, but now he felt as if he had to strength to face Tobio’s parents head-on and reclaim what they had taken from him.

And off he skipped to the parking lot to join the rest of the team.

“What are you so happy about? Your king is still trapped in his tower.” Tsukishima deadpanned when Shouyou threw himself into his usual seat in the van.

A chorus of “Shut up, Tsukishima!”s resounded through the van but Shouyou ignored them.

“My king may be trapped in his tower,” Hinata replied with a grin, “but I’m going to save him which makes me Tobio’s knight in shining armour which makes this a fairy tale which makes you the troll that lives under the bridge.”

“What-”

“Buckle up, kids!” Sugawara called from the front seat before Tsukishima and Shouyou dissolved into to petty bickering. Now was not the time. “And try not to fight, please.”

Tsukishima went back to his natural state (sulking) while Yamaguchi tried to coax some conversation out of him, and Shouyou sat straight up in his seat, gameface on. He was wrong to let stupid Tsukishima rile him up; it was time to focus.

In the driver’s seat, Daichi shifted gears, but before he could go anywhere, two loud knocks resounded through the car. Daichi shifted back into park with a sigh, unlocked the car, and motioned for Tanaka to open the door.

Tanaka did as Daichi asked, sliding the door open, but when he saw who was on the other side of the car door, his face immediately darkened and he slammed the door shut faster than the other person could say anything.

“Ryuu-!”

“Drive, Daichi.” Tanaka ordered, teeth clenched.

“What, why?” Daichi demanded with confusion colouring his voice. “Who is-”

“Ryuunosuke! Open up the door! I have something to say!” the person outside the car shouted.

“We don’t want to hear it!” Tanaka shouted back, his face getting redder by the second. “C’mon Daichi, fucking drive! It don’ matter if ya run the bastard over jus’ go! We got shit t’do right?”

“Tanaka,” Daichi spoke with his level captain voice, “Is that person outside the car by any chance Nishinoya?”

“So what if it is?”

“Tanaka, let’s hear what he has to say. Not to be a downer, but it doesn’t really matter how quick we get to Kageyama’s house at this point.”

Shouyou huffed in the back seat at Daichi’s comment but stayed quiet. Tanaka glared at Daichi but yanked the door back nevertheless to reveal a hunched over Nishinoya Yuu.

“So,” Tanaka spat, “What d’ya have t’say, huh?”

Nishinoya looked up from the ground and locked eyes with Shouyou. “I came to apologise to you.”

No one had been expecting that. Tanaka sat back in shock (and relief). 

“I was wrong for what I said to you, Hinata,” Nishinoya continued, not looking anywhere but at Shouyou. “I said heartless things based on a few preconceived notions and irrational fears. I did not behave as a senpai should behave. I acted like a complete dick-”

“Damn fucking right,” Tanaka muttered.

“-I wish it hadn’t taken hurting you and Tobio to realise that, and I’m so sorry that it did. These past few days I’ve reflected on what happened, and I went to practice so I could apologise, and coach told me what was going on.”

Nishinoya broke off at this point and dropped to his knees in a bow of the deepest respect and remorse before continuing his speech.

“Please forgive me, Hinata Shouyou, and allow me to assist you and the rest of the team in helping Tobio! I want to right my wrong!”

Shouyou didn’t move his eyes from Nishinoya, a calmness overtaking him once again.

Shouyou wanted to forgive his senpai. He did, but Nishinoya had hurt him. More importantly, Nishinoya had hurt Tobio. 

“I don’t forgive you,” Shouyou spoke with finality. Nishinoya sat back up, devastation written plain across his face. “I don’t forgive you, and I won’t forgive you until Tobio does.”

Nishinoya looked crushed, but no one in the car found much sympathy in their heart.

“But,” Shouyou qualified, and Nishinoya immediately perked up, “I can tell you feel sorry, so you can come with the rest of the team, if Daichi says it’s okay.”

Daichi looked frankly baffled and exhausted. “Whatever, just get in the car Noya.”

Next to Daichi, Sugawara stifled a giggle behind his hand.

Nishinoya looked nearly ready to collapse with relief, but managed to hold off until he made it to his seat next to Tanaka.

“I haven’t forgiven you either,” Tanaka muttered when Nishinoya sat down.

“I don’t deserve any of you guy’s to forgive me, but I will work as long as necessary to make it up to you.”

Asahi stayed silent.

“So...” Tsukishima drawled, “ Can we leave now?”

Daichi didn’t bother to answer; he simply pulled out on the street and headed off onto the dark wooded path towards Tobio’s house.

* * *

The closer Daichi drove to Tobio’s house, the quieter the van grew. By the time Daichi pulled into the Kageyamas’ driveway, Shouyou would swear that you could hear each and every person’s heartbeat.

“We’re here,” Daichi said solemnly as he put the car in park and unbuckled his seatbelt. “Anyone who wants to stay in the van, can. I’m not going to force you to get out.”

Everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and filed out of the car, one after another, the most orderly fashion that Daichi had ever seen. If not for the situation, Daichi thought he might drop from the shock. Sugawara broke Daichi out of his ill-timed shock by grabbing his hand. Daichi looked into Sugawara’s kind eyes. Offering a smile and a squeeze of Daichi’s hand, Sugawara pulled Daichi to the front, next to Shouyou, who had been the first out of the car and was already staring up at the menacing front of the house with a look of great determination.

The rest of the team congregated around Shouyou, Daichi, and Sugawara, all staring up at the house. As a team, they had faced and taken down the iron wall Date Tech. They had taken down the Great King and Aoba Johsai. They had taken down the fucking unbeatable Shiratorizawa, As a team, they could get Tobio out of the hellhole he was in. This was just another opponent in a match.

Daichi looked around at the rest of his team, “Ready?”

Everyone nodded.

As a collective, Karasuno Boy’s Volleyball Club moved towards the Kageyamas’ front door. Shouyou knocked on the door. Maybe it was just how Shouyou was hyper-aware of everything at this point, but the knock seemed to echo and bounce off the trees that surrounded them. With surprising patience, the boys waited for the door to open.

There was no response. Shouyou knocked again.

Once again, no one inside the house made a move to open the door. Shouyou looked up at Daichi, confused. Was it time to break down the door yet?

Daichi help up one finger. One more time, Shouyou would knock, and if there was still no answer, Daichi would break the door down and they’d forego all diplomacy.

Shouyou lifted his hand to knock a third time, and still there was no response. Daichi readied himself to break the door down. He backed up nice and slow, the rest of the team parting down the middle to give their captain a clear path. Daichi rolled his sleeves up, and took off for the door like he was in the Olympics Track and Field division, only to stop just short of the door a second later, when finally -   _ finally _ \- someone opened the goddamn door.

It was Tobio.

Shouyou hadn’t been lying, Tobio really, really did not look good. Tobio had always been slender, considering his amount of physical activity, but even after a few days of whatever they had been doing to him, he looked like he had already lost 7 kilos (15 pounds). Tobio’s eyes were sunk in, dark circles marking his face like he hadn’t slept in days. Daichi had never seen Tobio look so downtrodden, and it broke his heart. He pulled Sugawara closer to his side.

“Shouyou?” Tobio asked breathlessly, “What are you- I told you-”

No one bothered holding Shouyou back when he rushed to Tobio’s side and grabbed his hand, pulling him out from inside the shadowy house.

“No time idiot, let’s go,” Shouyou tugged harder on Tobio’s arm, the two boys tripping over the doorway as Tobio slowly realised what was happening..

Before the rest of Karasuno could rejoice at their good luck, a shadow overtook the front step once more and pulled Tobio back into the house.

“Excuse me, what do you kids think you’re doing?” A harsh, unforgiving voice snapped from behind Tobio, making him flinch. Tobio gazed back at Shouyou and Hinata as his mother held him to her chest. He wanted more than anything to squirm out of her grip and run to his teammates, but he stood still. The air between them grew still and silent, until someone spoke up.

“Good evening Mrs. Kageyama,” Daichi spoke first as the team captain, “I am here to ask Tobio to come live with me and my family. Permanently.” 

Mrs. Kageyam scoffed, “Didn’t we already go through this?”

Daichi smiled a dangerous smile that made everyone, including Mrs. Kageyama, to take a step back.

“Oh, I don’t think you understand, ma’am. I’m asking you to forfeit your parental rights.”

Tobio struggled against his mother’s grip at Daichi’s words, desperate to join his team, but Mrs. Kageyama only held on tighter. 

“That’s a ludicrous idea,” Mrs. Kageyama shook her head and clucked her tongue like she was admonishing a child. “And who are you to demand such a thing?”

As if she was giving time for someone to respond, Mrs. Kageyama paused, but before anyone could actually attempt to answer her, she continued.

“You’re a child,” she laughed in their faces. “All of you, you’re children. If I do as you ask, poor Tobio will be thrown into the system until he’s 18. He’ll be whisked off to Tokyo, and you’ll never see him again. Plus, as mean as you might think I am, I  _ do _ love Tobio. Everything I do, I do for Tobio’s well being.”

A wave of pure anger and hatred rolled through Karasuno, but if Mrs. Kageyama felt the murderous stares directed her way, she did not acknowledge them.

“Oh  _ really _ ? You care about him, do you?” Daichi’s voice came out wavered and infused with fury. “So, denying your son’s identity, separating him from the thing he cares about the most, keeping him away from his closest friends, putting him through literal torture, and destroying his mental stability, all for your backwards beliefs that belong in the middle ages is what you call doing it ‘for his well being’? Honestly, that’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve heard in my entire life. Here’s an idea, instead of letting your crazy-ass ideas negatively affect innocent people who don’t deserve to have ever met you, why don’t you just prance into the sunset with the rest of the insane jerks who condone this shit and leave all of us out of it. Don’t lie, you’re doing all of this for yourself.”

Mrs. Kageyama stared at him, her mouth agape. So did everyone else. It must have taken her a bit of time to process quite what he had just said, because she stayed like that for a good ten seconds before responding.

The woman let out a shrill, haunting laugh. “Okay, let me get this straight. You knock on my door, try and take my son away from me, insult my faith and beliefs, and expect me to just comply? Look, I will not have a bunch of teenaged boys interfere with my life. As if any of you would know the first thing about being a mother, even-”

The high-pitched slapping sound echoed in the house and silenced Mrs. Kageyama.

“You…” It was a smaller voice this time, coming from Daichi’s side, which had uttered the words. “You are  _ not _ Tobio’s mother.” Sugawara looked up from where he was staring at the ground, trying to hide his livid anger. “You weren’t, aren’t, and never will be a mother. It doesn’t take a woman or an adult or a parent to know that. You utterly disgust me.”

Without wasting anymore time - and they had wasted so much time already- Sugawara pulled Tobio out of Mrs. Kageyama’s grip, and with Shouyou on one side and Sugawara on the other, they marched Tobio back to the car. Sugawara couldn’t tell which boy looked closer to crying, Shouyou or Tobio.

Once they were a safe distance from the house, Sugawara leaned over to whisper in Tobio’s ear.

“You can stay with me and Daichi if you want, but I think both of you would prefer to stay together,” Sugawara offered with a smile. Tobio looked hesitantly between Shouyou, who was biting his lip aggressively as tears welled up in his eyes, and Sugawara. Noticing the boy’s indecisiveness Sugawara did his best to assure him, “But we don’t have to decide now. That can be a decision for tomorrow’s us.”

Sugawara opened the van door and ushered Tobio and Shouyou inside. Once Daichi was confident that Tobio was safely in the van, with one last withering look at Mrs, Kageyama, he motioned for the rest of the team to pile in the van.

No one wasted much time loitering on the Kageyamas’ doorstep, but as they were walking away, Tanaka made sure to shout as loudly and clearly as he could so there would be no confusion, “AND YOU’LL BE HEARING FROM MY LAWYER SOON, YOU FUCKED UP BASTARDS!”

Daichi didn’t even bother telling him off.

Like a bat out of hell, Daichi drove off once everyone was inside. Neither he nor Sugawara bothered to check if everyone had their seatbelts on. 

With the pressure off and Tobio safe and sound in the backseat, the rest of Karasuno was as rambunctious as ever, joking around and almost making Daichi crash the van at least three times with how loud they were. All except for two boys in the very back.

Shouyou held Tobio as close to his side as he could.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry I let her take you away. I’m sorry it took so long to get you back. The things they must have put you through,,, Tobio I’m so-!”

Shouyou was cut off was Tobio pulled him closer into his arms. They embraced each other silently until Tobio pulled them apart and planted a kiss on Shouyou’s lips. Shouyou wiped away the tear that had made its way down his cheek, smiling up at Tobio’s beautiful face.

“You don’t have to apologize for anything, Shouyou. You saved me.”

Their foreheads met as they looked into each other’s eyes. In that moment, nothing else in the world mattered.

“I love you, Kageyama Tobio.”

“I love you too, Hinata Shouyou.”

“Oh my god, get a fucking room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we can live in peace now  
> this pressure that has been weighing down on us for years can finally be expelled  
> I hope you enjoyed the dramatic shift in quality in this chapter lmao.  
> Thank you for caring about our writing, and I hope that our conclusion met your expectations!


End file.
